Film 34/52: Hannibal (2001)


I was such a huge fan of Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs, and of Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning performance as Clarice Starling, that when Hannibal was announced with Julianne Moore assuming the role, I frankly just wasn't interested. And so for the past 21 years, I hadn't yet sat down to watch Ridley Scott's adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel.

Well, that situation has been rectified, thanks to our 52 Pick-Up series. While I still prefer Silence as a story as well as a film, Hannibal definitely exceeded my expectations. The biggest and most impressive surprise — Greg Cannom's make-up for Gary Oldman's Mason Verger. But beyond that, the film has an impressive cast including Giancarlo Giannini and Ray Liotta. I have to admit, I quickly came to accept Julianne Moore as Clarice. And let's face it, Hopkins is Lecter — no slight to Mads Mikkelsen intended.

I've often found Ridley Scott's films to be beautiful to look at (a saving grace of the otherwise extremely disappointing Prometheus), and yet several times while watching Hannibal, I thought that definitely was not the case. There's a lot of blurred, shaky-cam sped-up and slowed-down footage that I didn't think was particularly well executed. It seemed to come at times when what was being depicted onscreen might have been deemed too disturbing for a mainstream audience, but given that we're graced with the captivating visage of Verger from the very opening of the film, I think I was prepared for just about anything from that point on. And as good as that practical make-up effect is, another visceral sequence late in the film is far less effective, as rendered via CGI. 

I know the film veers from the novel in a number of ways, particularly in where the two leads end up, but seeing the film has inspired me to give the novel a chance as well. Hannibal may not be on par with Silence of the Lambs or Michael Mann's Manhunter, but I found it to be far more entertaining than Dino de Laurentiis' Red Dragon (remade solely to create a version with Hopkins as Lecter). The few shaky-cam shots aside, the production values made this one worthy of screening on the big screen. 


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